Editorial: Chester Upland faces stark choice on recovery

In a way, it's easy to understand the reluctance of the Chester Upland School Board to sign off on the recovery plan laid out by state-appointed Chief Recovery Officer Joe Watkins.

There's a lot not to like. Three schools will be closed, one as soon as the Christmas break. A lot of district staff -- including teachers -- will lose their jobs.

So instead of approving the plan as expected Monday night, the elected school board instead delayed the vote and indicated it would come up with a plan of its own and present that to Watkins.

We wish them luck. They'll need it.

Advertisement

The state did its part by extending the deadline to approve the plan, which initially mandated a 10-day window for the board to vote on the package. It doesn't change the potential outcomes, however. If the school board rejects Watkins' plan, the district likely will go back into state receivership.

And that is part of the problem -- and the reluctance -- of the school board and the unease expressed by many in the community at the draconian changes Watkins suggests.

They've been down this road before. Actually this is the road -- state control -- they've been on for 16 of the past 18 years.

And what does the district have to show for it? A debt load that last year ballooned to more than $3 million and forced officials to consider shutting the doors. An academic morass that consistently sees Chester Upland test scores rank among the worst in the state.

Still, there are not a lot of options. That's how far the system has sunk. Watkins likely summed it up best, voicing the belief in his report that the district faces a grim choice between reform or becoming irrelevant, in effect, to "go out of business."

That plays into the conspiracy theories many in the district have long harbored, that the state's real game plan here is to financially starve the district, then disband it and turn education over completely to the burgeoning charter schools that already educate more than half of Chester Upland students. Last year's legal standoff, in which the district had to go to court to pry open the state's wallet after Gov. Tom Corbett and Education Secretary Ron Tomalis refused to deliver any more funding didn't help. Neither does the nagging knowledge that some of the state's largest, most powerful forces behind the charter school movement also happen to be among the governor's largest campaign contributors.

One area that may be a target for discussion is Watkins' timeline for improving academic progress in the district. The recovery officer wants to mandate that the district meet the federal annual progress guidelines -- including the dreaded AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) -- by the end of the 2014-15 school year. In some instances that would mean student grades would have to jump by as much as 15 percent.

Acting Superintendent Tom Persing, who has seen more than his share of challenges in a long and distinguished academic career, believes that's a pipe dream.

"The plan is worthless without implementation," Persing said. "That will be the proof of the pudding -- will they be able to, in fact, implement what they have in the plan."

Failure to hit the marks would trigger something of a death penalty for the district, a transfer to external management, including charter and cyber schools.

Persing recommends a five-year plan. Perhaps the school board, in its counteroffer, can convince Watkins to relax his stringent timetable.

But make no mistake. The clock is ticking for Chester Upland.

And one thing Watkins stressed rings true. The choice facing the district is stark.

Watkins has maintained this plan was crafted to save the Chester Upland School District, not destroy it and turn students over to the charter schools.

A lot of people think the plan -- and its stringent timetable -- is rigged against the district, that failure, in particular when it comes to academic standards, is inevitable.

Now the ball is in the school board's hands.

Its choice is anything but a slam dunk.

In a district where stark choices have become a way of life, this one might be the starkest of all.